>> Experts say it is important to wait before pruning potentially damaged plants to make sure those plants are not made more vulnerable to future frosts or freezes.

It is best to wait until the danger of another cold snap has passed, in late February or early March, to prune.

>> Smaller plants, such as lantana, are more likely to have been affected by the cold. Larger foliage, such as on a mature tree, is less likely to have been damaged.

>> John Pavlik of Moon Valley Nurseries describes things to look for with trees:

“Some of the telltale signs are, if you scrape the tree with a butter knife or something and there’s no green underneath the branch, or the cambium layer (just beneath the bark), it’s pretty severely damaged,” Pavlik said. “If it smells rotten or you smell a sulfurous odor, that could mean damage, too.”

>> Moon Valley Nursery offers freeze-recovery tips on its website (www.moonvalleynurseries.com). Most Valley nurseries give advice on how best to deal with potentially damaged plants.

>> For those looking for free tips on pruning, Chandler offers a class that will address the topic as part of an upcoming series of landscaping and gardening workshops. The pruning and maintenance workshop is 6:30-8:45 p.m. March 5 at the Downtown Library, 22 S.Delaware St.

To register for that class or any other in the series, visit www.chandleraz.gov/water or call the Chandler Water Conservation Office at 480-782-3580.

Patience is the key for homeowners and community associations as Chandler plants, shrubs and trees recover from the recent spell of freezing nights, landscaping experts say.

Foliage throughout the city, particularly sensitive plants, such as bougainvillea, hibiscus, lantana and ficus, is looking brown and sickly as it struggles to bounce back. However, experts are cautioning homeowners to wait before pruning or trimming.

“You really don’t know what’s dead and what’s alive until it starts to regrow,” said Kelly Young, assistant agent with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. “And that won’t be for a few more weeks for most plants. We’re really urging people to not trim anything, to just wait.

“If you prune things now, it might actually kind of stress them into sprouting, and it might freeze again,” she said.

Young said the danger of a frost or freeze usually passes by the end of February or early March.

The call for patience must be heeded by the landscape committee of homeowners associations as well. Most HOA communities have standards for yard upkeep that homeowners must meet. Although many shrubs and trees may appear to have fallen below that standard, it is a seasonal affect for the next few weeks, and there is still a chance that those plants could rebound. As a result, some associations have relaxed standards until landscaping has some warmer overnight temperatures to help it recover.

Many communities are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Bart Salzman, a board member of the San Marcos Estates community, said his group is not rushing to judgment.

“Our board has not addressed damage to plants,” Salzman said via e-mail. “But we’re a very friendly, patient HOA, and, as a board member myself, with some serious damage to plants in my front yard, I’ll be especially sympathetic to the problem.”

John Pavlik, a certified nursery professional with Moon Valley Nurseries, said that in larger communities, some neighborhoods may have been hit harder than others.

“In the East Valley, especially, it can vary,” Pavlik said. “For instance, it was much colder at our Arizona Avenue and Germann location than it was at the Mesa location (near McKellips and Lindsay roads). Micro climates within the Valley can change. We see temperatures vary where you can be 2 miles apart and have one area in the teens and another in the upper twenties.”

Smaller plants and shrubs, such as lantana and bougainvillea, already are showing signs of damage. Larger plants and trees, such as citrus, may not show it for a while.

Cactuses, the most recognizable desert plant, agave and aloe can survive the cold snap if precautions are taken.

Ty Petersen, manager at Arizona Cactus Sales on Arizona Avenue just south of the Santan Freeway, said the staff keeps the tips of sensitive cactuses covered throughout the winter.

“A Styrofoam cup is enough to insulate the tip and keep the frost from landing on it,” Petersen said. “Anything with a cup on it is probably coming out of this frost with no damage at all. If the frost landed on the tips, those are the ones that would get damaged. You can also use cloth, and we sometimes use plastic pots lined with newspaper so the plastic doesn’t touch the plant. But ideally, Styrofoam or burlap is the best thing to use.”

Petersen said the cold snap has provided a boost for business as people are taking a look at some of the hardier cactuses.

“Now we’re seeing people come in, especially the people who had noticeable damage with bushes and trees,” Petersen said. “They want to see which cacti didn’t get damaged, and that’s what they’re going to replace those (bushes and trees) with.”

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